He experimented with the monster fearing Lula - the robot friend based on Caballero's mother - an idea that he loved thematically but didn't work as well in practice. It was a really fun activity."Ĭaballero tested mechanics like the ability for the boy to climb and tickle the monster, who at times would be his best friend and at times his worst enemy. "I just had to go back and remember 'where do you put a key,' 'how do you do a skeleton,' 'how do you do an assignment?'. "It felt like I was writing a book," he says of the unusual man-alone-in-the-wild approach. He spent his days in a backyard, tinkering on a game prototype with various ways for a child to interact with a monster. After leaving his job at Electronic Arts Montreal, Caballero took his wife and son to Argentina, where he lasted three months on a working vacation. Rewind three years, and Papo & Yo's roots are easy to spot. But it soon becomes apparent there's a lot more to the story behind the game than alcohol, and Caballero turns out to be one of the most open interview subjects you'll find, willing to discuss being in therapy, his family life, and his critics - all of which appear in the game. For a game based on the relationship between a child and a real-life alcoholic, it seems like an unusual setup. He's playing with an inch-tall toy doll that his son snuck under his luggage tag as a present before he left Montreal, where Minority is based.Ībout 30 hours later, I see him at a bar promoting Papo & Yo. He has the excitement of a child with a light lisp and a thick accent. I first meet with Caballero the day before this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. "What is the one game I'm gonna make before I die?"Īnd now I can't imagine people will know him for anything but. "What is the one thing I'm gonna do before I die," he says. Caballero himself is main character Quico, presented as his father's friend's son he knew growing up: the "funny," "handsome" and "energetic" kid he always wished he could be. His first love, a literal representation, but one who also shares elements of his real-life brother. His mother, a protective robot friend that he wears as a backpack. The story of his life, as told through metaphors.Ĭaballero's father appears as a monster - who's addicted to alcohol, represented by frogs. Then, just before last year's Electronic Entertainment Expo, Caballero revealed his new company, Minority Media, and announced their first game: Papo & Yo. And the one who left Electronic Arts in part because he didn't like the morality behind shooters. He's the one who suggested soldiers should use tampons to heal partner wounds. And its congratulatory ass slap, before the team cut it. Prior to 2011, Vander Caballero was best known as the guy who gave Army of Two its high five. Players will need to learn to use Monster’s emotions, both good and bad, to their advantage if they want to complete their search for a cure and save their pal.Minority Media's Vander Caballero opens up about making a game based on his childhood, or as he calls it, the one game he wants to make before he dies. And yet, Quico loves his Monster and wants to save him.Īs Quico, players will build their friendship with Monster by solving puzzles together and adventuring through a magical, surrealist world. The minute he sees one hop by, he’ll scarf it down and fly into a violent, frog-induced rage where no one, including Quico, is safe. That said, Monster does have a very dangerous problem: an addiction to poisonous frogs. Quico’s best friend, Monster, is a huge beast with razor-sharp teeth, but that doesn’t scare Quico away from playing with him.
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